The Project Goes Down - Tom Bolger Makes FA Of Wild West, Margalef

I'd say that Hesperides is probably one of the bits of Margalef where some of the best rock in Margalef. It's pretty exposed to all the elements. There's a strange difference in Margalef. You always have these steep starts on orange rock and then you always get the water-worn blue rock at the top. It's always a contrasting style. The tops are pretty much always rounded, slabby, smooth rock. The starts are always pretty much powerful, explosive, dynamic climbing. All this season, I bolted Wild West and I cleaned up an old project, Frenesy, and then Mr. Big. Whether a route is good or bad, to me, it's all about the flow of the route. I think that's the only way I can describe it. There's loads of different elements. It might be the quality of the rock, the quality of the movements, the position. Where is it? If it's by the side of a road, it could be the best climb ever, but it's not special because of the place where it is. This one feels like a perfect straight-up line in the middle of the Esperia sector, which is like a mini Ceruz for me. It's one of the best cliffs here. It's just so surprising that it was sat there for so many years. The first routes in Esperia were bolted maybe 20-22 years ago. It's just kind of lay dormant until this winter. I think it's amazing that it gives you these little gifts now and again. That's got to be up there as the best one, maybe. It has one big rest. After that rest, all the moves are just totally continuous. It's this jumpy, dynamic style and you're just flowing the whole way. You don't really have to stop at any point. The only point where you're stopping really is to clip. To find routes that climb like that is pretty unusual. I think pocket climbing in general can give that style because there's not always that many tricks, like knee bars and things that you would find in twofer areas where the flow of the route might be a bit slower. But that kind of fast climbing on pockets I think is pretty special. I think I've noticed, just through trial and error over the years, finding out what works for me. I think everybody has their own little system, their own way of approaching climbing that works for them. It's not a topic that I think is that well studied or well shown within climbing. Everybody's maybe followed a training plan at some point, but I'm not sure that there's that many people who follow a mental program or an approach towards climbing. I've found that for me, having a little mantra which just directs my thoughts, for me I need to stay in the moment when I'm climbing. It's too easy for me to wander into, what if that crimp up with the right hand feels bad? What if my foot slips? What about that last clip? If you start thinking in those things, you won't flow. As soon as I use this little mantra that I've found for myself, I can enter into that flow state and it helps me to stay there. I think that's one of the biggest things that I've found has been a big change in my climbing. I can enter into that flow state when I want using that mantra, which years ago I couldn't do. It really depended on if that day was going to be a good day or not. I feel that at this point in my life, the creative circle of searching for, bolting and trying to send new lines is what really motivates me the most. This process of developing projects, mainly for me and for future generations, is the best way that I can contribute back to the climbing community and in my own way complete the circle.